Butler Report

Lord Palmer: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	What were the costs involved in producing the Butler report; and whether any members of the review committee received remuneration.

Baroness Amos: Costs incurred by the Government are estimated at some £452,500. Lord Butler, Lord Inge and Sir John Chilcot received personal remuneration for their work.

Iraq: Export Sales of Oil Products

Lord Lester of Herne Hill: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	Further to the Written Answer by the Baroness Symons of Vernham Dean on 6 June 2003 (WA 198), whether the proceeds from all export sales of oil products from Iraq are spent exclusively to meet the humanitarian needs of the Iraqi people; the economic reconstruction and repair of Iraq's infrastructure; the continued disarmament of Iraq; and the cost of Iraqi civilian administration; and, if not, for what other purposes the proceeds are spent.

Baroness Symons of Vernham Dean: United Nations Security Council Resolution (UNSCR) 1483 of 22 May 2003 provided that all export sales of petroleum, petroleum products and natural gas from Iraq shall be deposited into the Development Fund for Iraq (DFI). The DFI was set up as an account into which all revenues from the sale of Iraq's oil would be paid and to which all assets of the Iraqi Government would be transferred. UNSCR 1483 decided that all DFI funds were to be used in a transparent manner to meet the needs of the Iraqi people.
	UNSCR 1546 of 8 June 2004 transferred control of the DFI, on dissolution of the Coalition Provisional Authority, to the Iraqi Interim Government (IIG). It provides that the IIG shall use the DFI in a transparent and equitable manner and through the Iraqi budget, including to satisfy outstanding obligations against the DFI. Iraq thus has full authority and control over its financial and natural resources, including the disbursement of funds in the DFI. UNSCR 1546 also affirmed that monitoring of the DFI by the International Advisory and Monitoring Board would continue.

Equatorial Guinea

Lord Lester of Herne Hill: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	Whether they have been requested by the Government or other public authorities of Equatorial Guinea to investigate the activities of British citizens alleged to have been involved in the failed African coup; and, if so, what action has been taken in response.

Baroness Symons of Vernham Dean: The Equatorial Guinean Government have approached us in relation to their investigations following the alleged attempted coup in March 2004.
	We have made clear to the Equatorial Guinean Government that any evidence they may have relating to activities of persons currently in the UK which might contravene UK law should be passed to the Police and the Crown Prosecution Service who are solely responsible for decisions regarding investigations and prosecutions respectively in the UK.
	We have made clear that the UK takes its international obligations very seriously and will continue to assist where possible.

Minors with Indian Nationality

Lord Avebury: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	Whether they will explain the basis for their assertion that an Indian minor who acquires British nationality by registration does not lose Indian nationality; and whether they will place in the Library of the House copies of any correspondence between the British High Commission in New Delhi and the Indian Government on this subject.

Baroness Symons of Vernham Dean: I thank the noble Lord for his Question on minors with Indian nationality who were registered in Hong Kong as British Nationals (Overseas).
	Under Indian nationality law, Indian citizens who voluntarily acquire another citizenship lose their Indian citizenship. However, minors are deemed incapable of voluntarily acquiring another citizenship. Thus minors who held Indian citizenship and otherwise acquired British Dependent Territories Citizenship or British National (Overseas) status do not lose Indian nationality as a consequence.
	It is a statutory requirement for registration as a British Citizen under Section 1 of the British Nationality (Hong Kong) Act 1997 that the applicant must have been solely British, and not hold another citizenship, both on 4 February 1997 when the Act was passed and on the date of application for citizenship.
	We will place copies of the press release issued by the Government of India on this subject in the Library of the House.

Young Offenders

Lord Chadlington: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	How many 16-18 year olds returned to main stream education after being released from a young offenders' institution.

Baroness Scotland of Asthal: In England and Wales and Northern Ireland, it is not possible to say how many 16-18 year-olds returned to mainstream education as data are not collected and could be collated only at disproportionate cost. However, in England and Wales the Youth Justice Board calculated that of the 5,172 young offenders who have completed Detention and Training Orders in 2004, 2,859 returned to employment, education or training.
	For information with respect to Scotland, I refer the noble Lord to the Scottish Executive.

Child Pornography

Lord Hylton: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	Whether the legal definition of pornography involving children is the same in the United Kingdom as in the Republic of Ireland; and if not, in what respects it differs.

Baroness Scotland of Asthal: The definition of pornography involving children is not the same in the United Kingdom and the Republic of Ireland.
	In England and Wales, the Protection of Children Act 1978, as amended, deals with indecent photographs or pseudo-photographs of children under the age of 18. This includes anything which appears to be a photograph of a child, in any form. Whether the photograph is indecent is left for the courts to decide, applying common standards. It is an offence under the Act to take, make, distribute, possess with intent to distribute or to advertise such material. The Criminal Justice Act 1988 (s 160) makes simple possession an offence. In addition the Sexual Offences Act 2003 includes at Sections 48 to 50 offences of causing or inciting child prostitution or pornography, arranging or facilitating child prostitution or pornography, and controlling a child involved in pornography. Pornography in this context arises when an indecent image of the child is recorded. The law in Scotland and Northern Ireland similarly deals with indecent photographs and pseudo-photographs of children, at present up to the age of 16.
	According to their government website, in the Republic of Ireland the relevant definition is contained in the Child Trafficking and Pornography Act 1998: the definition covers four types of pornographic material featuring children under 17, irrespective of the medium used. These can be summarised as follows: visual material which either shows a child (or in the case of a document relates to a person who is or is depicted as being a child) engaged in or witnessing explicit sexual activity, or the dominant characteristic of which is the depiction, for a sexual purpose, of the genital or anal regions of children; material which is capable of being heard and which represents a child engaged in explicit sexual activity; visual or audio material that advocates, encourages or counsels unlawful sexual activity with children; information relating to a child that indicates or implies that the child is available to be used for the purpose of sexual exploitation within the meaning of the Act.
	A visual representation includes any photographic film or video representation, any accompanying sound or any document.

Prison Population: Ethnic Minorities

Lord Judd: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	What proportion of the total prison population is from ethnic minorities.

Baroness Scotland of Asthal: The prison population, by ethnic group, in England and Wales on 28 February 2003 is provided in the table.
	
		Population in prison by ethnic group England and Wales, -- 28 February 2003
		
			  Number Per cent 
			 White 54,445 75.3 
			 Black 11,942 16.5 
			 South Asian 2,352 3.3 
			 Chinese and other 3,468 4.8 
			 Unrecorded 79 0.1  
			 Total 72,286 100

Prison Officers: Training

Lord Chadlington: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	What training is given to prison wardens prior to employment.

Baroness Scotland of Asthal: The information requested with respect to England and Wales and Northern Ireland is provided below. For the information with respect to Scotland, I refer the noble Lord to the Scottish Executive.
	In England and Wales all prison officers undertake the Prison Officer Entry Level Training Course (POELT). This is an eight-week course, with time split between the classroom and the students' home establishment, which gives students a thorough and comprehensive introduction to the Prison Service and equips officers to maintain security and contribute to prisoner resettlement.
	The course includes modules on security training, control and restraint techniques, searching, diversity, interpersonal skills, assertiveness, mental health awareness, suicide awareness, substance awareness, first aid, radio procedures and peacekeeping.
	In Northern Ireland, prison officer induction training is designed to equip prison officers with a range of control and interpersonal skills to help them perform their duties and meet their responsibilities to prisoners. Staff also receive training on equality, human rights and equal opportunities. The length of the training varies from four to six weeks depending on the specific role of the recruit.

British Citizenship: Applications by Overseas Residents

Lord Avebury: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	Whether an overseas resident who considers that his or her application for registration as a British citizen has been erroneously refused should appeal through the British consulate in the country where he or she lives, or directly from abroad to the Home Office in the United Kingdom; and whether they will add a paragraph to the Casework Instructions to clarify the procedure.

Baroness Scotland of Asthal: Except in the case of deprivation of citizenship, there is no statutory right of appeal against the Secretary of State's decision. Informal representations, whether made directly or through the British consulate, will be carefully considered and a full reply sent in each case in accordance with casework instructions. Decisions are also susceptible to judicial review on the usual grounds of illegality, irrationality and procedural impropriety. The casework procedures are clear and do not need clarification.

Trespass: Royal Palaces

Lord Greaves: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	To which properties a possible new law of criminal trespass on properties owned by Her Majesty the Queen would apply.

Baroness Scotland of Asthal: Her Majesty's Government are currently considering whether it is necessary to create a specific offence of trespass for certain sensitive sites, including some Royal and government sites.
	No decision has yet been taken on which properties any such offence might apply to, but we hope to be able to come to a conclusion shortly.

Demolition Orders

Lord Greaves: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	How many demolition orders have been made by local authorities in England in each of the past 10 years.

Lord Rooker: The information requested is not held centrally, and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.

Closing Orders

Lord Greaves: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	How many closing orders have been made by local authorities in England in each of the past 10 years.

Lord Rooker: The information requested is not held centrally, and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.

Playing Fields and Sports Buildings

Lord Moynihan: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	When they intend to introduce legislation to include playing fields of between 0.2 and 0.4 hectares within Sport England's remit as a statutory consultee, as announced by the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister on 24 July 2002; and
	When they intend to introduce legislation to ensure that planning permission is required for the demolition of sports buildings, as announced by the Department for the Environment, Transport and the Regions on 27 July 2000.

Lord Rooker: The Office of the Deputy Prime Minister aims to consult in the next few months on arrangements for statutory consultees. The proposal to lower the threshold for consultation on playing fields from 0.4 to 0.2 hectares will be included in a draft amendment to the Town and Country Planning (General Development Procedure) Order 1995.
	The Office of the Deputy Prime Minister expects to consult early next year on the proposal to amend the law on demolition of sports buildings by means of a draft amendment to the Town and Country Planning (General Permitted Development) Order 1995.

Tertiary Education

Lord Howie of Troon: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	Whether they have any proposals to increase public expenditure on tertiary education as a percentage of gross domestic product from the figure of 0.7 to the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development mean of 1.0.

Lord Filkin: The 2004 Spending Review settlement means that significant additional public resources will be available for tertiary education. There will also be the additional funding from variable fees, which will be publicly funded until such time as students complete their courses and are earning above the repayment threshold. It is not clear at this stage what difference the extra funding will make to the overall percentage of gross domestic product spent on tertiary education.

Folic Acid Fortification

Baroness Hayman: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	Whether, in the light of the reduction in birth defects evidenced in the recently published Canadian study of the effects of the fortification of flour with folic acid, they will reconsider the case for such fortification in the United Kingdom.

Lord Warner: The Government recognise the importance of folic acid and take this issue very seriously by actively promoting folic acid supplements for women who might become pregnant. The Department of Health continues to support the folic acid flash scheme and encourages voluntary fortification of foods with folic acid.
	The Scientific Advisory Committee on Nutrition (SACN) is currently considering whether sufficient new evidence on wider implications of folic acid fortification has emerged to warrant a new risk assessment since that undertaken by the Committee on Medical Aspects of Food and Nutrition Policy and published in 2000. The issue of fortification will be reconsidered following SACN's consideration and as further evidence becomes available from overseas.

NHS Staff from Overseas: Test for HIV Infection

Baroness Knight of Collingtree: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	What tests for HIV infection are routinely carried out on personnel from overseas coming to Britain for employment in the nursing profession or in care work.

Lord Warner: Applicants for work in the National Health Service are required to pass a number of pre-employment checks prior to receiving an unconditional offer of employment. These include verification of qualifications, identity, professional registration, criminal records and occupational health. Guidance on pre-employment checks was issued to NHS employers under the cover of a Direction for the Secretary of State for Health, in June 2002,
	Following the recommendations made by an expert working group the Government have been consulting the professions and patient organisations regarding the introduction of additional health clearance for serious communicable diseases.

Acupuncture and Herbal Medicine

Lord Hunt of Kings Heath: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	When they will publish the results of their consultation on the statutory regulation of herbal medicine and acupuncture; and
	Whether their final proposals for the statutory regulation of herbal medicine and acupuncture recognise traditional Chinese medicine as a distinct discipline on an equal standing to herbal medicine and acupuncture and with a separate register.

Lord Warner: On 2 March we published proposals for the statutory regulation of herbal medicine and acupuncture practitioners. The consultation period closed on 7 June. An analysis of the responses to the consultation will be published in the autumn. We plan to publish draft legislation for further consultation in 2005.
	We recognise that many practitioners of traditional Chinese medicine use both herbal medicine and acupuncture. Decisions about any new system of statutory regulation will therefore need to take account of their particular needs.

Invasive Non-native Species

Earl Peel: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	Whether they intend to create a single organisation to deal with invasive alien species, including the grey squirrel, as recommended by the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs' Review Group; and, if so, when.

Lord Whitty: The Government's response to the Review of Non-native Species Policy report recognised the arguments put forward by the Review Working Group and acknowledged the case for improved co-ordination of relevant functions and provision of advice across Great Britain.
	My department has held initial discussions with the devolved administrations, other government departments and agencies that work on issues associated with non-native species, to develop a mechanism for improving co-ordination. I anticipate that we will make an announcement early next year.

Grey Squirrels

Earl Peel: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	Under what rules the grey squirrel is exempt from the Convention on Biological Diversity.

Lord Whitty: The problems of invasive non-native species are recognised internationally and have been identified as one of the major threats to global biodiversity by the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD). Article 8h of the CBD requires contracting parties, as far as possible and appropriate, to prevent the introduction of, control or eradicate those alien species which threaten ecosystems, habitats or species. Decision VI/23 of the Conference of Parties adopted Guiding Principles on Invasive Alien species and urged parties to address the threats posed by invasive alien species when revising and implementing their national biodiversity action plans. Decision VI/23 also urged parties to review relevant policies, legislation and institutions in the light of the guiding principles.
	The department, with the devolved administrations in Scotland and Wales, convened a working group in 2001 comprising government, nature conservation, and trade representatives to undertake a fundamental review of policy and practice on non-native species. The report took account of CBD Decision VI/23. The working group report of the Review of Non-native Species Policy has been published and is available from the Defra website (www.defra.gov.uk).
	The department published the government response to the working group's detailed report in October 2003. It was accompanied by a public consultation exercise. The outcome of the consultation is helping my department and the devolved administrations prioritise action and develop an overall strategy for dealing with invasive non-native species. The establishment of a coherent overall strategy will assist in prioritisation of key actions.
	The CBD does not refer specifically to any individual species such as the grey squirrel. I refer the noble Earl to the Starred Oral Question on 27 May, (HL Deb, Col. 1440), that grey squirrels are well established and the approach we adopt towards them is clearly different from the approach we would adopt to a new threat. A Species Action Plan (SAP) for the red squirrel was published in 1994 as part of the UK Biodiversity Action Plan (UK BAP). The UK BAP was prepared in response to our commitment to the CBD. The SAP identifies spread of grey squirrels, habitat fragmentation and disease as current factors in the decline of the species and sets objectives and targets to maintain and enhance existing red squirrel populations and to re-establish populations where appropriate. Delivery of the SAP is taken forward through the UK Red Squirrel Group, led by the Joint Nature Conservation Committee.

Scrapie

Baroness Byford: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	How many people were consulted in the 1999 anonymous postal survey of scrapie notification.

Lord Whitty: Questionnaires were sent to 11,554 randomly selected British sheep farmers of whom 7,090 responded.

Scrapie: Defra-funded Research

Baroness Byford: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	When scrapie epidemiology was last peer reviewed.

Lord Whitty: The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) has a policy of reviewing its research programmes every four to five years. The last review of the entire research programme on transmissible spongiform encephalopathies (TSEs) was carried out in December 2000. An additional review of Defra-funded sheep TSE research, including projects on scrapie epidemiology, was carried out in December 2001.

Civil Service Efficiency Review: Diversity

Lord Ouseley: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	How they intend to manage the equality and diversity implications of their intention to cut many Civil Service jobs.

Lord Bassam of Brighton: The Cabinet Office has issued guidance for departments outlining the factors that they should consider as they develop their plans to implement the outcomes of the Efficiency Review. This emphasises the need to ensure that their procedures do not result in unlawful discrimination directly or indirectly and to consider the impact of their plans on the diversity of the workforce, so that specific groups of staff are not disproportionately disadvantaged. In particular, departments must consider the need to conduct Race Equality Impact Assessments.

Public Appointments: Diversity

Lord Berkeley: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	What is the number of women and men on the boards of (a) the Office of Rail Regulation; (b) the Strategic Rail Authority; (c) Crossrail; (d) Network Rail; and (e) the Health and Safety Commission; and whether they have a policy to encourage the appointment of more women to such positions.

Lord Davies of Oldham: The number of women and men on the boards of each of the bodies listed (with the exception of Network Rail) is:
	
		
			 Organisation Board members(total) Men Women 
			 Office of Rail Regulation 6 4 2 
			 Strategic Rail Authority 10 7 3 
			 Cross London Rail Links Limited 7 7 0 
			 Health and Safety Commission 10 6 4 
		
	
	Network Rail is a private company, limited by guarantee, and its board is not appointed by Her Majesty's Government.
	Cross London Rail Links Limited (CLRL), a private limited company, was established in January 2002 as a joint venture between the Strategic Rail Authority and Transport for London. Following the Secretary of State's 20 July announcement on Crossrail, the company has now been restructured as a joint venture between the Department for Transport and Transport for London, each of which appoints three directors. The chairman is appointed by the Secretary of State with the agreement of the London Mayor.
	The Department for Transport and the Department for Work and Pensions (responsible for the Health and Safety Commission) have published their proposals for increasing the diversity in public appointments in the Cabinet Office's annual report, Delivering Diversity in Public Appointments 2003.

Heathrow Airport: Travelators

Lord Acton: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	Further to the Written Answer by the Lord Davies of Oldham on 2 February (WA 77), whether the travelators at Heathrow Airport fell below the required standard during the first six months of 2004; if so, in how many months; and by how much they did not meet the required standard.

Lord Davies of Oldham: The standard for travelators at Heathrow airport is that in each month they should be available for 98 per cent of the time. For the first six months of 2004, Terminals One, Two and Three each achieved the standard in all but one month. In the months that travelator availability was below the standard for these terminals, it was above 95 per cent. Terminal Four failed to meet the standard in two of the first six months when availability was above 90 per cent in one month and above 95 per cent in the other.